


Us

by jolymusichetta



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Asexual Character, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 15:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7646755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolymusichetta/pseuds/jolymusichetta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's their seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when Scott McCall, Lydia Martin and Malia Tate really come into their own. With a snapshot of each month, the three of them navigate the school year, Quidditch and the N.E.W.T.s and their relationship. The latter is only slightly more difficult than something entitled Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Something to look forward to, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Us

_ September 1 _

* * *

 

Seventeen year old Scott McCall had just gotten to the prefect’s carriage on the Hogwarts Express when he realized that he was late for the meeting, which wouldn’t have been a big deal if he wasn’t Head Boy. He and the Head Girl were required to give a speech on the ride to Hogwarts entailing the details of the duties the prefects would have to know in order to survive the year. It was mainly for the fifth years, because the sixth and seventh year prefects already knew what to do, but they may have gotten rusty over the summer vacation. It was also the place to let them know if any policies had changed over the summer. Scott had his letter from Headmaster Deaton in his messenger bag, which was slung neatly over one shoulder, that let him know what was expected of him this year. He didn’t know who the Head Girl was until he stood in the doorway to the carriage and saw Lydia Martin standing in the hall between compartments. She gave him a smile that was not genuine and let him know that she wasn’t pleased. 

“Scott McCall, right?” She had been in nearly every one of his classes over their six years at Hogwarts, he had no doubt she knew his name. “I was wondering when the Head Boy would show up. You’re late.” She gestured for him to put his bag down. He put it on the top rack in Compartment C and joined Lydia in the hall. She didn’t offer her name and he didn’t ask. She just went on about their duties for this year at Hogwarts, stressing to emphasize that if any of the prefects, especially the fifth years, felt unsure about what to do, then they could go right to her or “Mr. McCall” and they would take it from there. The way she said his name let him know that she was questioning Deaton’s decision to appoint Scott as Head Boy. 

It made Scott want to prove her wrong. 

After a moment of silence and Lydia’s eyes glancing in his direction, Scott realized it was time for him to take over and actually say something. “Patrol the carriages once every hour or so. If we’re getting close to Hogwarts and you see students not in their robes, let them know it’s time to change so they can be prepared. Make sure you’re paying attention to the first years especially, remember how scared you were your first time on the train?” Normally he had no problem speaking, but he could feel Lydia’s eyes on him and it send fire up his back and blood to his cheeks. The room felt warmer and smaller. He didn’t think that would be happening if she approved of what he was saying. “And I think we’re done here.” He looked over at Lydia for confirmation and she nodded in agreement. 

“We are. You can start doing hourly patrols at noon. In groups of two, just make sure everyone has the chance to patrol. Come get us if you need us for anything. Right, Scott?”

“Right.” He waited for the prefects to make their way back into their compartments before he returned to his own, taking his bag down from the shelf overhead and sitting down. It was empty save for him and it only bothered him a little. His friends were out on the train somewhere, eating chocolate frogs and licorice wands and daring each other to eat the grossest looking Bertie Bott’s bean. Admittedly, he wasn’t all too upset about missing the Bertie Bott’s, but he missed his friends. He pulled out a book from his bag with a little more force than he needed. His inhaler fell out of the bag and dropped to the floor. Before he could so much as reach for it, there was a purple high heel on top of it and he had no doubt who it belonged to. 

He watched as Lydia crouched down and picked up the inhaler, handing it back to Scott and stepping into the compartment. He didn’t say anything as she closed the door behind her, pulled the shade of the window up to let the daylight stream in through the window and sat down across from him. “I’m not evil, you know.”

Confused, Scott said with a half laugh in his voice, “I never said you were.” He slipped the inhaler back into his bag along with his book, snapping it shut and putting it to the side. 

“You were thinking it.” When Scott didn’t reply, she added, “I saw it. On your face. I’m pretty, not stupid, I know when someone’s looking at me with disdain.”

Scott didn’t think there was a person in the world who looked at Lydia with disdain but he didn’t say that. “I was thinking you thought Deaton made a mistake choosing me for Head Boy. I was thinking about proving you wrong.” 

Lydia gave a quiet sound and Scott didn’t know if she was agreeing or disagreeing but they just lapsed into silence. Scott picked up his book again, letting himself be sucked into the Call of The Wild. He glanced up a Lydia after a bit, but she didn’t seem to notice, looking out at the window with a thousand yard stare kind of intensity. Neither of them spoke. Scott went back to reading, Lydia kept on staring. Things were calm, peaceful and Scott was hoping they’d continue like that for as long as possible. 

Which meant, of course, something had to disrupt that peace. Pounding footsteps stopped right outside of their compartment and Lydia’s head whipped around to look before the door had even slid open. Scott looked up as well, but Lydia already seemed to be taking charge without knowing what the problem was. One of the new fifth year prefects was standing in the doorway and there was another prefect behind him, holding his wrist with a displeased look on his face. Lydia sighed, as if wondering how they had ended up going together. The look on her face was one of exasperation mixed with fondness. 

“Why am I not surprised?” she asked aloud, primarily to herself and the familiarity led Scott to believe that one of them was definitely in Ravenclaw with her. 

Mason gave a sheepish smile before the boy behind him shoved his way into the compartment. “Malia Tate has a Fanged Frisbee and when I tried to take it, it bit me!” He thrust out his wrist to prove his words and there was a pool of blood surrounded by bite marks. Lydia shook her head.

“I should have some bandages in my bag. Give me just one -.” Scott interrupted before she could stand up to leave the compartment, 

“I have some.” He gestured for the boy to sit next to him, wiping the blood away with a tissue and covering the teeth marks with one big band-aid after he did. “If it bleeds through, come back. I have more.” He nodded. Lydia stood up anyway. 

“Mason, Liam, stay here. Scott and I are going to have a talk with Malia.” She sent Scott a meaningful look and waited for him to stand. He rose and followed Lydia into the next carriage, looking through both sides of the train.

“So, Mason is the one in Ravenclaw with you?” he asked and Lydia nodded. 

She glanced inside the compartment she had just looked in, doing a double take even though no one in the compartment looked like Malia. “Yeah, the other one was Liam Dunbar. He’s in Gryffindor. He’s brash and crude, but nice enough once you get to know him.”

Scott took that information and pocketed it away. As a Hufflepuff himself, he worked hard to achieve his goals and sometimes, the people and things around him got faded into the background, especially in recent years. He had done a major overhaul on his grades, body, and life in general and it got him in the position of Head Boy. He regretted none of it but now he had to start paying attention to everything and everyone else. He had spent enough time away from the world. 

Lydia stopped in front of him and the narrow hall didn’t allow him much room to move around her so he ended up walking directly into Lydia and nearly knocking her over. When her feet remained firmly planted on the ground, Scott was impressed. Those heels looked hard enough to walk in, let alone remain upright when someone nearly toppled you. She drummed her fingers on the glass pane of the door before sliding it open and clearing her throat. 

Malia Tate did not seem to notice them. She didn’t even have her eyes open. Taking that as an invitation in, Lydia stepped inside the compartment, leaving Scott standing in the doorway. When Lydia sat down across from Malia and cleared her throat again before extending her hand, Malia’s eyes opened. “We’ve been over this, Malia.” Despite the familiarity in her voice, there was no warmth. This was clearly an ongoing battle between the two of them. 

“Your new prefect is a big baby, it hardly scratched him.” She made no move to get the Fanged Frisbee from wherever she had been hiding it. She didn’t even deny having it. That was new. Every time Scott had seen someone confronted with a situation that would get them in trouble, they denied it to their very core. He admired Malia’s honesty. 

Lydia wiggled her fingers. “My new prefect is your housemate. Maybe you should be a little kinder when you’re thinking of that. You’re the one who has to spend the next year in a tower with him.” After a stare down that went on for a few moments, it was clear to Scott that Lydia won. That didn’t surprise him. Lydia always won. Malia dug around in her bag next to her, pulling out the Frisbee and slapping it down in Lydia’s open palm a little more forcefully than the situation called for. If Lydia registered the pain, she didn’t say anything, not even as one of the teeth dug into her finger as she closed her hand around it. “I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of each other this year, so just do try not to make these visits so often.”

As if she was offended, Malia pressed a hand to our heart. “And here I thought you enjoyed our chats together.” The words were teasing enough but there was a tension in them that had Lydia pursing her lips and when she stood up again, she took notice of Scott again, apparently having forgotten he was there. He stepped out of the doorway and let Lydia lead the way back into their carriage. He wasn’t going to ask what that had been about but he didn’t have to. As soon as Lydia retrieved her bag from her own compartment and tossed the confiscated toy into it, she shook her head with an annoyed sound. 

“I cannot stand her sometimes,” she muttered so quietly that Scott wasn’t sure if he was supposed to answer or not. The silence hung in the air for too long so Scott decided to go for it, 

“It kind of seemed like you two have history from where I was standing.” He shrugged, but the frown on Lydia’s face deepened and she eyed Scott as if he and Malia had been in on it together. Like they planned on giving her gray hairs at the age of seventeen. 

Neither of them said anything the rest of the ride to Hogwarts. The ride was quiet, the prefects did their rounds and Scott got to read. He was almost finished with his book by the time they got to Hogsmeade Station. He and Lydia got a carriage by themselves and Scott was acutely aware of the dark, skeletal creature at the head of the carriage. Before he got in, he reached a hand out to let it smell his palm before stroking lightly down it’s muzzle. It didn’t seem to mind too much and Scott smiled. Taking care of Muggle creatures was one thing and he loved them all but magical creatures that accepted him so willingly made his heart warm. “Hey,” he murmured to it, giving a few more strokes down the muzzle before Lydia said behind him, 

“What are you doing?” Her voice had a lingering tone of confusion in it and that threw Scott more than the creature in front of him.

“Can you not see it?” He got into the carriage, sitting across from Lydia. 

“See what?” 

Even if Scott told her, she probably wouldn’t have believed him. He wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that the carriages that took them to school were pulled by some kind of amalgam with a reptilian face, wings like a bat and a skeleton for the rest of the body. “Never mind.” He wanted to keep reading but the headlamps at the front were moving too much to provide any decent sort of light. It would have to wait for later, he supposed. When he had a candle next to him and a soft bed he could let suck him in. 

Lydia stopped him right before they went into the Great Hall. “We’ll do rounds tomorrow night? Let everyone get the chance to settle in?”

“Sounds good,” Scott said, bright grin on his face now that he was at Hogwarts, where he felt able to be who he was. Being a half-blood and having to return to the Muggle world was fine with him, but there he had to be ordinary. Unnoteworthy. Here, he was  _ magic.  _ It was both exciting and relieving to have his wand tucked into his robes. “I’ll see you tomorrow after dinner.” He and Lydia went their separate ways. Lydia was joined by the fifth year Mason, and one of the mutual friends she and Scott shared, Danny. Scott had always liked Danny, everyone did. It was impossible to hate someone who was so nice and did everything to counteract the douchebag of a best friend he had. Scott didn’t know how someone as nice as Danny remained friends with Jackson, the school’s most pompous Slytherin, but they were a good match. Danny picked up the mess Jackson left behind him in his wake. 

Scott himself was joined by an old friend of his, Kira, whose father taught History of Magic and Hayden. By the way she kept glancing at Liam, the Gryffindor prefect from before, Scott was sure something was there but the glare on her face told him it wasn’t good. 

“I missed you too, Kira,” he replied, hugging her easily before they sat down next to each other. “Hey, Hayden, how was your summer?”

Hayden gave a noncommittal shrug and Kira’s hand on his arm pulled Scott’s attention back to her. “I heard you’re Head Boy!” Indeed, the badge was pinned to his robes right above the. Hufflepuff crest. “Congrats! Who is Head Girl?”

“Lydia Martin. And absolutely no one is surprised by that,” Scott replied with a gentle laugh, turning his attention to Professor Deaton as the first years were sorted into their houses. The sixth year male Hufflepuff prefect, Isaac, led the new Hufflepuffs down to the basements. 

“Our dorm is in the basements,” Scott could hear Isaac saying as he walked, leaving Tracy, the other sixth year prefect, to bring up the rear and make sure no students got stuck on the staircases. “It’s really warm and comforting, so if you get homesick tonight, find me or Tracy or Scott and we’ll help you guys feel better.”

Scott remembered Isaac’s first night. He had been scared and alone and then-Head Boy Jordan Parrish had sat up with him all night. Scott only knew that because he had been eavesdropping. Not that he would admit to it.  He had trouble sleeping that night too, but hearing how rough it was on Isaac, he decided against pulling any unnecessary attention to himself. He had a little trouble sleeping every first night since then, but sixth year had changed it. Of course, a friend had supplied him with a sip of firewhiskey before bed, but that was besides the point. Bed was like a welcome friend at this point. Especially after today. He would probably fall asleep before his head hit the pillow. 

Eventually, he made his way out of the Great Hall, Kira happily talking about her summer. Scott was interested, he really was, but his eyes kept glancing back at the Gryffindor table and finding Malia Tate. Normally, Scott wouldn't have necessarily paid her any attention but after the incident on the train, he couldn't stop alone replaying things in his head. She was sitting alone at the table, just as she had been on the train. Even surrounded by housemates, the people she's spent years with, she wasn't speaking. She wasn't even looking at them. She did, however, look over at Lydia for a fleeting moment. Just for a second. Before Malia could look away, Lydia looked back. Malia dropped her eyes to her plate and focused intently on her food. 

Scott didn't even realize he had stopped to watch the interaction until Lydia stood up and bid her friends goodnight. She strode out of the Great Hall with meaning; her steps were filled with power and the few people lingering in the hall cleared out or her path. Scott didn't notice that one of those people was Allison Argent, an old friend of Kira’s, and that she stopped to talk. He watched as Malia stood up slowly, finishing the last of her pumpkin juice before she walked out with just as much purpose as Lydia had, but people didn’t clear the way for her. The opposite, actually. She weaved through the students and went a way that would most certainly not take her to her tower. 

If Scott were being honest, he would want to follow her but Allison excused herself and Kira tugged on his arm to get his attention. “I am so ready for bed. My dad was taking so long this morning, I was ready and showered before he even had his coffee.”

Scott laughed. “That sounds pretty accurate.” They made idle conversation all the way down into the basement. He tapped the second barrel from the bottom and in the middle of the second row before the lid of the barrel swung open and allowed them passage into the common room and he let Kira to go in first. 

“Hey, you've paid more attention to this stuff than I have, are Lydia Martin and Malia Tate friends? They definitely have some kind of history between each other, I just can't tell what kind.”

Kira shrugged. “Best way to find out is ask,” she pointed out.

“I brought it up to Lydia before and she was just really quiet.” 

Kira didn't have an answer for him and Scott didn't force one. “I'm going to bed. Night, Scott.”

Scott smiled in response. It wasn't an answer but he couldn't be angry at her for not knowing. “G’night.” He did the same, went down the tunnels to his dorm. His belonging had already been brought up and he wasted absolutely no time getting changed. Lying down in bed felt like an embrace from an old friend. He barely thought to draw the curtains shut before he fell asleep. 

_ October 6 _

* * *

 

Scott had been awake for a grand total of twenty minutes before Kira sought him out like some kind of birthday seeking missile and clings to his arm. “Happy birthday!” They were still in the Hufflepuff common room, Scott had woken up early due to the sound of some of the younger boys talking amongst themselves and feeling a little more at ease now that they’ve been in the castle for a month. He can’t believe that he’s a month into the last year he’ll ever spend at Hogwarts. In nine months, he and his fellow seventh years would be leaving Hogwarts for the last time. Nine months and one impending boat ride across the Great Lake before he would be expected to make something out of himself. 

He shook himself away from the thoughts. It was his birthday, he was going to be happy if it killed him. Not to mention, he had made the Quidditch team as one of the Chasers and had even managed to score a few points for Hufflepuff at the game against Ravenclaw the other week. That alone was a feat, the Ravenclaw Keeper was Danny and he was the best Keeper the Ravenclaw house had seen in years. He made the team as a second year and never looked back. He told Kira he’d see her down at breakfast and went to change out of his pajamas, going back through the tunnels to put his messenger bag together and run a comb through his hair. He wanted to see his mom at some point today without having to injure himself to do so. 

As he walked up the few flights of stairs to the Hospital Wing, he noticed he wasn’t the only one in the halls. Malia Tate was striding towards him and staring dead ahead, as if she was oblivious to his presence. Part of him wanted to ask why she was up so early, especially on a Sunday morning, but he was distracted by the blue and bronze tie she had looped around her neck. Now, it was early and Scott was tired, but he knew that her house colors were red and gold, not blue and bronze. 

Lydia’s house colors were blue and bronze and the implications hit Scott like a ton of bricks. He stopped in his tracks and made an about-face, turning to catch up with Malia as she strode towards Ravenclaw Tower. “Malia!” She didn’t answer, so he took that as a sign to continue talking as he caught up to her. “Hey, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about the Fanged Frisbee.” He wasn’t, though. She knew they weren’t allowed in the school and she brought it anyway. Scott was just looking for an in for conversation. 

“No, you’re not,” she said, not slowing, “You’re wondering why I have a Ravenclaw tie and why I’m wandering around the castle so early.” It was an accusation, one Scott would have protested again were she not absolutely correct in her assumptions. He gave a sheepish shrug and scratched the back of his head. 

“You and Lydia clearly have history. I’m just curious.” The only issue was that he didn’t know  _ why _ he was curious. He had six years to be nosey about other people’s business, the fact that it was only starting to interest him now was something to be confused about. He and Lydia had been spending an awful lot of time together after all, making the rounds during the night to make sure no students were out of bed, dodging Peeves occasionally when he saw them wandering the castle making rounds and overall just talking. Scott had absolutely no doubt how expansive Lydia’s mind was but she could and would go topic for topic with him, both Muggle and magical. There was no question in mind that she would win every debate she entered. 

He and Lydia spent a lot of time studying together too. His grades had been good enough to earn him the position of Head Boy but now with the N.E.W.T.s fast approaching, he needed all the help he could get. He didn’t have a career in mind but given that he had scored an O in Care of Magical Creatures and it was the one class he always excelled in, he figured it would have something to do with that. Or maybe he could work as a veterinarian in the Muggle world, using magic to mend broken bones in animals and saving nearly everything he could. Yeah, that seemed like a good plan. He’d have to tell Lydia about that. She had already planned on becoming the Minister for Magic, it was just a matter of time. 

He turned his attention back to Malia and her raised eyebrows, as if daring Scott to say the wrong thing. Scott didn’t want to know what would happen, even if he could deduct house points the second she did anything. But she didn’t. She just gave Scott a well meaning look before striding off in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. 

After visiting with his mom, it was time for breakfast and then the last day of the Hogsmeade trips. Of course Scott was going, but he didn’t have to go alone. Breakfast was anything but leisurely that day, everyone from the third year and above excited to get to Hogsmeade and more or less shoveling food down their throats like it would get them there faster. They would only go when Deaton had given them permission and Professor Hale, one of the chaperons and head of Gryffindor house, made sure everyone had their permission slip. Taking a sip of orange juice, Scott finished off his pancake and carefully extracted himself from the Hufflepuff table before they could get on the topic of his eighteenth birthday again. Hayden and Tracy were busy coming up with a shopping plan for when their feet hit the ground in Hogsmeade and Scott was sure they were going to hit every single shop there was. Isaac had fallen asleep with his head in his arms which to Kira meant she had to see how many Cheeri Owls she could stack on his nose before he woke up or his breathing made them fall. It was the perfect moment to slip away and Scott took his opportunity. He found Lydia’s hair with ease, braided from the front and her head hunched over something. He took the recently vacated seat that Danny had just abandoned and nodded at Mason over Lydia’s head. “Hey, Mason.”

“Morning, Scott.” Mason watched Lydia for a moment, though she didn’t appear to have heard them or she was just tuning them out. Scott had learned that either one was plausible with Lydia, she was notoriously selective with her hearing and whether or not she chose to hear you. Mason nudged her in the side and rolled his eyes at the look Lydia shot him. “Yeah, whatever, it’s breakfast on a Hogsmeade day, save the studying for later.” 

“I second that,” Scott replied from Lydia’s other side with an easy grin, taking a piece of bacon off Lydia’s untouched plate and watching as she finished off her paragraph of whatever she was reading and closed the book. “Bacon?” he asked, taking another piece from her plate and offering it over. After a moment of looking at it, Lydia took the bacon and bit into it. 

After she chewed and swallowed the bite in her mouth, Lydia turned to give him a bright smile. “Happy birthday! Any plans for the day, especially since we’re in Hogsmeade?”

“Not that I know of. Probably just going to wander around and buy myself something from Honeydukes.” It wasn’t something he was proud of, his family’s money issue, but it was his birthday after all and he had saved some money for spending after working at the clinic all summer, but everything else had gone to the bills. Electricity, cable, internet, rent, Scott felt like his entire world revolved around money and bills but that was Muggle money. Every cent he earned was worth it, even if he watched some animals not make it from their wounds, but he stuck it out and helped comfort their owners. It hurt them to hear their companion passed more than it hurt him to watch it. He had converted his pounds into galleons and sickles at Gringotts a few weeks prior and this money was just for Hogsmeade. 

Lydia gave a small smile, slightly confused but not willing to cross a boundary. “Not big on celebrating your birthday?” 

“Something like that.” Lydia had more or less given him an out, offered to not ask questions and Scott would take it without thinking on it twice. He was grateful and took another bite of the bacon in hand. “I was thinking, did you maybe want to grab a butterbeer with me at the Three Broomsticks while we’re there?”

“Like a date?” The voice surprised him. It was neither Lydia or Mason. It was Liam, having come from the Gryffindor table across the path and sat down across from Scott. He hadn’t even noticed that Liam had come over to them, Christ the kid was sneaky. He and Mason were both looking at them impatiently, waiting for answer, one that put Lydia directly on the spot. She rubbed her eye with a sigh, not looking at either of the fifth years and taking a sip of coffee from the mug in front of her. She was stalling for time,  they all knew it.

Mason wasn’t having it. He rolled his eyes. “Well?”

With a heavy roll of her eyes, Lydia looked at Mason before turning back to Scott. She gave him a chance to back out of the affirmative, but he just nodded a little, he was okay with it being a date. After all, they had spent a lot of time together, it sort of felt like going on a date would be the natural next step. “Yes. It’s a date,” she replied simply but warmly, the smile she kept off her face shining through her voice instead.

Scott was going to respond before he heard Hayden’s laugh as Isaac woke up and bolted upright, toppling Kira’s Leaning Tower of Cheeri Owls. “I’ll meet you in the Courtyard?”

Eventually, everyone had filed out of the Great Hall, the upperclassmen hurrying to the Clock Tower Courtyard, where Professor Hale would be waiting to make sure all students had their Hogsmeade permission slips. Scott handed his over, let the caretaker check his name off the list and found a group of his Hufflepuffs huddled together. “Hey, Scott. What’s your game plan for today?” Isaac asked, knocking the hood of his sweatshirt off so he could run a hand through his curls. 

“Oooh, you should join us. We’re gonna see how close we can get to the Shrieking Shack,” Kira chimed in excitedly. 

Hayden scoffed. “That seems like a terrible decision, please don’t die. Tracy and I are going shopping if you want to do something a little less  _ suicidal _ , Scott.” 

Moment of truth, he figured. Now was as good a time as any. “I, uh … I actually have a date,” he admitted, trying to pretend the blush rising to his cheeks was the end result of a gust of wind that swept across the courtyard, scattering leaves everywhere. 

“What? With who?” It was Tracy who spoke, dropping her hair from where she had been pulling it into a ponytail a little harder than necessary. 

“Lydia Martin.”

Hayden laughed, sounding a little excited by the prospect. “Yes, finally. Only took you a month, Scotty, could be worse.” 

Scott didn’t know what they were talking about, but he could guess. He had been spending more and more time making rounds with Lydia around the castle or studying with Lydia, hadn’t been in his common room as frequently because of the fact he was constantly making rounds with Lydia or studying with Lydia. “Wait, really?”

Isaac shrugged. “Scott,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets, “Every second you’re not with us, you’re with her. It was only a matter of time.” 

Scott rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Go, I’ll see you guys in the common room later.”

“We want details,” Kira added before they headed away, leaving Scott standing there as he waited for Lydia, trying to pick her out from the rest of the students filtering through the door. He was so intent on finding Lydia that he didn’t notice Malia barreling towards him. She didn’t move to avoid him, just enough to slam her shoulder into his and catch his attention for the second time that morning. He didn’t try to talk to her this time, not even as she muttered, 

“Enjoy your date.” Because he saw Lydia striding out among a throng of Ravenclaws, and Liam, who apparently did not detach from Mason’s side ever. It didn’t surprise Scott but the sight of Lydia made him stand up a little straighter. He didn’t really notice what she was wearing this morning, because at breakfast they hadn’t been going on a date. Now that they were, everything felt amplified and he was sure that he was going to be second guessing every single thing he did from this point on. 

Lydia stopped in front of him, still shorter than he was even in those heels. “Hey. Ready to go?” 

Scott nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” The walk to Hogsmeade was nice, they talked about their upcoming N.E.W.T.s and the fact that Scott’s friends seemed to have been waiting for them to go out together. He didn’t mention that he thought they might have had a pot going on when he would ask her out and if they did, then Hayden probably won. The topics moved easily from one thing to the next, there was no boundary that seemed too awkward to cross and Scott wondered if all relationships were this easy. Probably not, if they weren’t this easy than they weren’t meant to be, maybe. 

They found a table with a little difficulty, they hadn’t been among the first students to get to the pub but they had found a booth in a corner that seemed cosy and out of the way from others. They could see over the whole floor of the pub with some maneuvering around the heads of others, but that was a slight inconvenience. They ordered a couple of butterbeers from a passing waiter and when they had the drinks in front of them, Scott felt like the date had officially started. So now he was even less eager to ask about Malia Tate and her Ravenclaw tie and why she really seemed to have it out for Scott. How she knew about their date when it had literally only happened that morning. Word spread fast around Hogwarts but not that fast.  

He didn’t ask. They sipped their butterbeers and talked about nothing in particular, but they were enjoying themselves at the very least and laughing at the stupid jokes and puns Lydia made and the butterbeer foam that formed a mustache on Scott’s upper lip. He wiped it off on a napkin and watched as Lydia got one approximately seven seconds after, drinking from the new mug of butterbeer that had been placed in front of them. “Scott,” she whined through a laugh, wiping it off on another napkin and shifting a little closer. The warm atmosphere of the bar and the butterbeer, while not making them drunk, made everything feel a little more welcoming and Scott obliged, leaning in closer as well. A more or less collective gasp from the rest of the patrons had him pulling away. It caught Lydia’s attention as well and they, as Head Boy and Head Girl, left their mugs abandoned on the table along with a couple of galleons from Lydia as both payment for their drinks and tip. Scott would talk to her about that later. 

When they pushed through the rest of the crowd, they saw Malia Tate, holding a bottle of firewhiskey by the neck in one hand and her wand, pointed at another fellow Gryffindor, Allison Argent, too keep her at bay. Watching Allison carefully, Malia took a long swig of firewhiskey, well aware that she had the eyes of everyone in the pub on her, including Scott and Lydia. Lydia sighed next to Scott and glanced up at him. It was a silent plea, asking if he was okay with cutting their date short but Scott didn’t even think twice. “We should get her back to the castle.” 

She heaved out a sigh of relief and stepped into the fray, the calm before the storm that would erupt the second Malia cast a spell. “Malia.” Her voice rang clear through the bated breaths of the pub patrons, and she stepped in front of Allison and Malia’s wand. She waited for Malia to lower the bottle from her mouth with raised eyebrows, arms crossed over her chest. Once she did, it only took one look at her eyes to realize that she was drunk. She may have drawn her wand but her mind was addled, anyone she cast a spell at would have plenty of time to get away because of the fact that her reactions were so delayed. “You’re drunk,” she said, shaking her head and letting disappointment seep into her tone. 

Lydia didn’t need to ask Scott for help, he was right there, clearing a path to the door as Lydia started helping her through. “Yeah, I am!” She tightened her grasp on the bottle as Lydia reached for it. 

Through gritted teeth, like Malia was heavily testing her patience, Lydia muttered, “Malia, give it to me.” She grabbed the bottle, pulling tight against Malia’s own grasp. “Malia, give me the bottle!” Malia did, however, it was right at the moment that Lydia pulled the bottle towards her and sent the contents spilling all over her top, dousing the material and causing Lydia to smell like cinnamon. “Fuck!” Scott could only watch as it happened, quickly shrugging out of his jacket as Lydia’s top became rapidly see through. He held it up in front of her, letting her take it and put it on. She buttoned it up and managed to get her soaked shirt off, stuffing it into her purse. “Let’s go.” Thankfully, no one was laughing and they all seemed to be more afraid of Lydia’s glare than Malia’s wand. Lydia helped Malia put an arm around her neck and Scott did the same on her other side, supporting the Gryffindor’s weight between the two of them. 

“I’m really sorry, Lyds,” Malia mumbled, looking over at Lydia as they walked back up the path, “I know how much you like that top. You wouldn’t have worn it on a date if you didn’t like it.” 

“You’re right. I did really like it.” Her voice was short and cold, an open invitation for Malia to stop talking, which she didn’t take. 

Instead, Malia turned her heavy-lidded eyes on Scott. “And you. I don’t - I don’t dislike you. Not entirely. But I don’t like you either.” 

How was he supposed to take that? Malia was waiting for an answer, though, so he said, “Uh, thanks.” She seemed satisfied with this and gave a sloppy nod, watching as the castle got closer and larger, as if she didn’t quite realize where they were going. Things were quiet for another few minutes of the walk and while it wasn’t a long walk, it was a little more grueling supporting Malia’s entire weight because she would faceplant the second they let go. 

The crunch of a leaf underfoot had Malia speaking again, “Lydia. Do you hate me?”

Lydia was silent for a few feet, thinking over her answer carefully. “No. But you ruined my date and probably Scott’s birthday, so I’m not all that happy with you right now either.” 

“You didn’t ruin my birthday.” She hadn’t exactly made it better, but she didn’t make it worse. “I mean, it’s certainly more interesting than I had thought it would be when I woke up. Since when was interesting a bad thing?” 

Malia poked his cheek. “You’re all right person, for now, Scott. But if you hurt Lydia, I’ll kill you. Clear?”

“Clear,” he echoed. He didn’t know if this was drunk ramblings on Malia’s part but he looked over at Lydia and the blush in her cheeks said it was probably not drunk ramblings. Another thing to ask about later. They helped Malia to the hospital wing and Scott waved off the concern from his mother. “We just can’t find anyone from Gryffindor willing to help her in and her head of house is down at Hogsmeade. She just needs to sleep it off, Mom.”

“If she’s not back in her dorm by tonight, I’ll have to tell Professor Hale where she is.”

“Seems fair,” Lydia replied, taking Malia’s hand and giving a squeeze before she gestured to the hall and headed out, leaving Scott to follow her. “So, I’m not really feeling up for going back to Hogsmeade. If you give me a bit to shower and change, we can go hang out in the library or something.” 

An idea came to mind and Scott nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll meet you down in the library.” She gave him a small smile, one that promised she hadn’t seen their date going like this before she turned to go to Ravenclaw Tower. The second she turned onto a staircase and Scott could no longer see her, he made his way down to the basements. He went directly past the Hufflepuff dorms and to the still life of the fruit, tickling the pear and turning the doorknob to go inside the kitchens. “Hi,” he said to the first House-Elf who paid attention to the outsider. “I was wondering if I could get a couple of hot chocolates?” 

Scott had never spent all that much time in the kitchens but the times that he had, he had been nothing but pleasant and this time was no different. He ended up with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate that were enchanted, a Hogwarts specialty, to stay warm but not scalding and went up to the library to wait for Lydia. He got them a comfortable couch and set the mugs down on the end tables, wandering the shelves idly as he heard Lydia come up behind them. “Hey, Scott.” Her hair was wet, she didn’t look like she was trying to impress anyone and was just in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, but Scott loved the look. “I have your jacket.” She offered it over and Scott would have shaken his head if he hadn’t saved three months for that jacket. He put it back on and led her over to the couch.

“I got us hot chocolate,” he said, sitting down on the loveseat with Lydia next to him. She toed her shoes off and tucked her sock clad feet under her as she took a mug.

“Thank you.” 

The silence was comfortable and the room was cool, a welcome change from the warmth provided by the Three Broomsticks and neither of them rushed to fill the silence. He figured he should ask only one of the burning questions and right now, one had been burning since September, so he figured the question about why she paid for their drinks could wait. “So, were you and Malia ever a thing?” 

Lydia didn’t stop drinking her hot chocolate, in fact, she seemed to chug it so she didn’t have to answer but eventually, she needed to breathe properly and she sighed, rubbing her thumb against the side of the mug. “We’ve been … hooking up on and off since fifth year.” 

Fifth year? Wow. No wonder Malia apparently had it out for Scott. “Do you love her?” 

“What kind of first date is this?” Lydia was trying to get out of answering, Scott could tell that much. 

He shrugged. “Lydia.”

“I don’t know. Maybe, I could someday.” 

He didn’t press anymore. He just took a sip of hot chocolate. “Okay,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek and leave it at that. 

_ November 28 _

* * *

 

Malia Tate absolutely hated her birthday. She had always hated her birthday, from finding out she was magical when she turned eleven and having an explosion of accidental magic that caused her to hurt her little sister. Ever since then, she hadn’t bothered writing home on her birthday and she hated it. Especially as an eighteen year old. She had been wandering around the castle all day, avoiding class and her professors and especially Scott and Lydia. They had gotten disgustingly close since that date she ruined in her drunken stupor. She and Lydia hadn’t been meeting up at nights anymore and Lydia hadn’t offered an explanation so Malia, partially by her own doing, was entirely alone again. This is what she got for pushing everyone away, alienating herself from anyone she could have been friends with, the other girls in her dorm, or the Gryffindors she had known in the past, ones who had grown up and left Hogwarts, leaving her with people she hardly knew the names of. 

She skipped dinner, she didn’t want to see Lydia and Scott being unnecessarily adorable and if anyone said a single thing to her, she might be tempted to punch them. Liam. She meant Liam. He got on her nerves on a good day and downright pissed her off on a bad one. Malia sighed as she walked, having ended up on the fifth floor, among the Muggle studies classrooms. As a fullblood witch adopted into a Muggle family, she had never really needed any help in the Muggle studies but it was late at night and most students had begun making their way back to their common rooms, if not starting to wind down already. Yet, there was someone on this floor. She could hear laughter coming from one of the classrooms and her curiosity got the better of her, and she looked inside.

It was Scott and Lydia, shocker, and they were throwing paint at each other. They were laughing, even as Lydia threw a cup of green paint at Scott. It got in his hair and on his face and he retaliated by tossing purple paint in her direction. They were happy and smiling through the paint drying on their faces and it almost made Malia want to throw up. How dare they be so cute and happy when she was suffering? She tried to stifle the growl rising in her throat, but tried was the operative word. When she realized that the sound was not in her head and something she actually did, she immediately backed out of the room. Great, not only did she ruin her relationship with Lydia, now she was going to get caught spying on them. Just what she wanted, to look like a stalker. 

She didn’t get out of sight quickly enough. She was still taking long strides down the corridor when Lydia stuck her head out into the hallway. “Malia?”

_ Fuck.  _ This was not how she wanted tonight to go. Malia turned around, hoping her face didn’t betray her emotions. She kept it a blank, if not bored mask, nearly all the time and she really hoped that now wouldn’t be the time for that to change. “Hey,” she said casually, hoping that Lydia didn’t know she had been watching them. 

“Hey.”  Lydia wiped purple paint from her forehead, looking at her hand. “Happy birthday.”

It didn’t surprise Malia that Lydia knew her birthday. Even when they were just doing their friends with benefits, sneaking around in the dead of night and hiding in broom cupboards thing, Lydia was always aware of what was going on in Malia’s life. It was impressive, giving how hard Malia tried to keep her personal life separate from Lydia. It was easy for people to get attached, so Malia eliminated the problem by being cold and brusque. “I’m surprised you remembered.” It was her attempt to keep Lydia at arms length. And if Lydia realized this, she didn’t show it. 

“I miss you, Malia.” She took an unconscious step towards Malia, trailing blue paint in the shape of her feet on the stone floor. Malia took a step back, keeping the distance between them.

She shook her head. “No you don’t. All we did was have sex, you miss having a warm body underneath yours,” she spat, but her voice lacked venom. Lydia took another step closer to Malia and she didn’t compensate with a step back. 

“No, even if we didn’t talk much doesn’t mean we didn’t talk at all. Come on, you might not miss me, but I miss you.” 

With a bitter laugh, Malia rubbed her lower lip. “I can’t do this, Lydia. It’s my birthday and I’m just … I’m not gonna do this.” She turned around, already having to regain her composure now that her back was to Lydia, her something that could’ve been. The someone she could have had. She forced those thoughts away, she could not, would not, do emotions. 

“I have something for you. I mean, if you don’t want it, it’s fine, but I don’t know, I figured you might.” That stopped her dead in her tracks. She was always a sucker for presents, especially since she hadn’t gotten any in the past few years. Slowly, Malia turned, as if she were afraid of what Lydia could have for her. Lydia motioned her closer. “Close your eyes.” Letting her guard down. That wasn’t something Malia did very often. Malia obliged, shifting nervously until she felt something cold smear down her cheek. When she opened her eyes, Lydia was giggling. 

“What did you just put on my cheek?” she asked suspiciously, already trying to think of the nearest bathroom so she could survey the damage.

Lydia held up her open palm and showed Malia the purple paint on her hand. “I never said it was a present.” She made a point, she had made a broad generalization and Malia was the one who took it to mean a present. Although, at the same time, she was right to assume that Lydia had gotten her a present.

She took a step closer, even as Malia swiped the paint off of her cheek and down Lydia’s nose without batting an eye. “There. Now we’re even.” 

“Not really, but whatever,” she said, shrugging and sliding her hands into the pockets of her overalls, “Wanna help me get Scott back for the lovely mess you see on me?” Indeed, she was a mess, purple paint on her face and blue in her hair. She wore a bandeau that had been white going into this mess covered with overalls and her legs were covered in pink paint. Malia had to wonder if Scott looked better or worse. She wouldn’t put it against Lydia to have deadly aim. Especially when it came to dousing someone in paint. 

Malia lifted a shoulder. “Sure.” Way to go, crashing another date. There was a reason she had been avoiding Lydia for the past month. She followed Lydia in, forcing a smile if only because she was with Lydia and she didn’t want to give either of them reason to worry. Not that they  _ would _ worry. She was no one to them. A bystander, someone just passing through, who only got their attention when she did something bad. 

Lydia strolled inside casually, as if she wasn’t planning revenge on the grand scale. “Look who I found in the hallway.” She stepped away from Scott, gesturing for Malia to step forward. 

“Hey, Malia,” he said brightly. God, why didn’t he hate her for last month? How was this guy the most positive person when it was late and she was cranky and he was still happy? “I see Lydia got you.” He tapped his cheek, smiling when Malia reached up and rubbed her cheek, as if she had forgotten the paint was there. A bit of purple came off on her hand and she shrugged. 

“Oh, yeah. It was Lydia’s  _ birthday present _ to me.” She rolled her eyes fondly, watching as Lydia squeezed paint into a cup and added a little water to thin it out. 

“It’s your birthday? Happy birthday!” What a fucking puppy. How did she not like him? Actually, she didn’t even hate him. Was she a little jealous of him for taking the only person she could tolerate spending time with? Insanely so. But did she hate the guy? She wanted to, but damn it, he was too damn likeable. “How’d you spend your day?”

Malia shrugged. “I skipped class. Spent a lot of time avoiding professors and walking around the grounds.” It was good practice, getting close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest before she couldn’t force herself to step into them and turned back. “There are worse ways to spend it.” Plus, she was rather enjoying herself now, or the face Lydia had on as she snuck up behind Scott with the cup of paint and dumped it over Scott’s head. 

He closed his eyes as soon as he felt the cold drip down his scalp. “So you were a diversion, Malia?”

“Yep.”

“Lydia’s idea or yours?”

“Mine,” Lydia replied from behind Scott, setting the cup down and crossing her arms, satisfied. 

Scott nodded, eyes still closed and he didn’t give either of them time to move before he shook his head like a wet dog, splattering them both with paint, but mostly Malia. She gasped, frozen in surprise before she laughed. “You guys are Head Boy and Girl, you really should know bette-.” Her sentence was cut short as Lydia flung a paint brush with a dollop of orange paint on it at her. “Lydia!”

“I slipped,” she replied innocently, still holding the paintbrush. 

Malia scrunched up her nose in a challenge and she dove for the paints before anyone could stop her. She had the blue in hand before Lydia could load another round of orange and she just squirted the bottle at her, aiming it at Scott after to deter him.

It didn’t work very well, but Malia didn’t care, because she was having fun on her birthday. Who cared that they were throwing paint and that it had elapsed into chaos. Scott was using Lydia as a shield as he got closer to Malia, picking her up around the middle as he approached to save himself. Lydia was laughing and trying to escape Scott’s arms. Malia was hiding behind anything she could, waiting for a safe time to leave her shield to throw paint at Scott, even if Lydia was getting the brunt of it. 

By the end of it, her stomach hurt from laughing and her cheeks were sore from smiling, Malia didn’t even know when the last time that happened, if that had ever happened before. Scott cleaned up the room and both her and Lydia with a quick cast of  _ Tergeo,  _ siphoning away the paint from both girls and the floor and the walls. 

As they walked out of the room, in a gesture that could have been completely platonic or not at all, Lydia took her hand. It was well after midnight, her birthday was over but she still asked, “Was your birthday better this year?”

Malia interlocked their fingers and nodded. “Yeah. It was really good.” She looked over at Scott as he took Lydia’s other hand. “Best birthday I’ve had in years.”

_ December 19 _

* * *

 

Malia had always loved the cold weather. The crispness of the air and the bare trees just put her instantly more at ease. Even if she was currently without a friend in the castle. She and Scott were on decent terms following the paint fight they had had a month ago, but Lydia had gone back home for Christmas break, leaving her by herself again. She was idly walking around outside, careful of the groups of students who had lingered behind and playing in the snow. There wasn’t a whole lot of people left on the grounds and Malia’s dorm was entirely empty besides her. She didn’t mind. She was alone most of the time anyway, she was okay with spending her holidays alone. She missed her dad, but how could she face him again? She had to see him when she went home for the summer but even then she spent all of her time avoiding the house. 

She snapped out of her thoughts as she finished her loop around the outer grounds, near the ground keeper’s hut and stamped the snow off of her boots. She was reluctant to spend a lot of time indoors, but if there was ever a time to do it, it would be when the castle was nearly empty. It was nearly time for dinner, so she may as well go and get changed into something that wasn’t covered in snow especially since the fire from the torches on the wall was making the snow stuck to her clothing melt, tracking water in as it did. 

After going up to Gryffindor tower and changing into a dry sweatshirt and warm jeans, she realized that she was free. A quarter way through her last year at Hogwarts before she was out into the real world. She could get a job in the magical world or the muggle world but she would be expected to get a job and that alone was terrifying. It was enough for her to be struck with the reality of it all, bracing a hand against the wall to keep herself upright. Slowly, she slid herself down against the wall, sitting down and trying to breathe slowly, with steady breaths instead of the shaky ones currently escaping her lungs. Graduation was an impending doom that drew closer each day. It scared the living shit out of her. 

“This seat taken?” A voice from above her asked. She didn’t have to open her eyes to recognize the voice as one of the few Hufflepuffs she knew but she looked up at him regardless, unsurprised to see Scott standing over her. She shook her head, eyes closing again as Scott sat down next to her. “What’s up?”

She didn’t answer right away, hugging her knees to her chest as she thought for a way to explain what was bothering her. “Thinking about the future. What’s gonna happen after graduation and all that?” 

He slid down a little more, leaning his head back against the wall. “Yeah, it freaks me out when I think about it too. It’s like … a panic attack waiting to happen,” he said quietly, not protesting as Malia moved a little closer and dropped her head onto his shoulder. This was different, new. They hung out from time to time, but never without Lydia and Malia wasn’t sure where she stood with Scott when she wasn’t there. When he didn’t react negatively, she scooted closer, sighing. 

“No offense, but this is really awkward,” Malia said bluntly. She had never been one to beat around the bush and she wasn’t about to start now. “Lydia is our glue, we don’t normally spend time together without her here.” 

Scott moved to wind an arm around her shoulder. “Maybe we should start. She’s gonna be gone for two weeks and nearly all of my friends went home for break too. May as well spend some time with someone I like.”

“Oh, Scott. Wish I could say the same,” she teased, nudging him in the ribs lightly, “But I don’t like you at all.” She was kidding, even if she didn’t know when she had grown to like Scott as a person. He wasn’t even all that bad looking or anything.  _ No. No, bad Malia. That’s Lydia’s boyfriend, you don’t hit on or check out Lydia’s boyfriend.  _

Scott laughed. Clearly he took no offense. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Tate.” 

“Hey, look who’s catching on!” 

They sat like that until dinner and when they finally made their way to the Great Hall, Malia sat with Scott and Isaac at the Hufflepuff table and she wasn’t alone for Christmas. 

She honestly didn’t say she minded spending time with the Hufflepuffs, even if Isaac had heard about the escapade with the paint and the booze a few months before. They were never going to live that down. 

Scott offered to walk her back to Gryffindor tower. Malia would have protested that she didn’t need anyone to walk her back to back to the dorms but she was actually enjoying spending time with him and she didn’t want it to end. It would go back to normal when Lydia returned, things would go back to  _ ScottandLydia  _ and Malia. A separate entity. Someone who didn’t belong. The harsh reality would kill her in two weeks, but for now, she could pretend that she was part of a group that had a place for her. She was going to enjoy it for as long as she could. 

“Have you decided yet?” he asked out of the blue. They had been silent, content to walk through the halls with the fire crackling in the torches as their only background noise. 

She didn’t even know what he was talking about. She half wondered if he had manage to sneak red currant rum into the building but she doubted it. Scott was the Head Boy, he didn’t know how to have fun. “Decide what?” 

“Whether you like me or not.” It was said with a laugh and it was clear that he was just teasing, attempting to break the silence with something that was just for their ears only. No Lydia or Isaac or Kira to listen in. Just them. “If I remember, in October, you said you didn’t dislike me. But you didn’t dislike me either.”

Malia pretended to think on that. She was sure it wasn’t an actual question, she didn’t spend much time with people she didn’t like, hence why she was always alone, so spending time with him should have been the answer in and of itself. “Nope. Can’t say I’ve decided yet. There’s still time to swing my decision.” 

Scott stopped, leaning down the hall from the portrait of the Fat Lady and Malia leaned next to him, arms crossed over her chest. “How do you propose I do that?” 

_ Kiss me. _ He was so close to her, he could, just leaning in on both their parts and their lips would touch and Malia had to stop that. She didn’t even know why she had that train of thought.  _ Of all of the boys at Hogwarts, you had to pick Scott.  _ Of course, she was pretty sure Scott was the nicest person she had met in her life and the least judgmental. She’d be crazy not to have a little bit of a crush on him. “Why would I tell you and take all of the fun out of it?”

It was clear that their conversation was at an end. He didn’t move closer. She didn’t either. A stalemate. Lydia was the closest thing she had to a friend, Malia had to be the one to break the tension. And she did it by shooting Scott a teasing smile and turning towards her common room. “Good night, Scott,” she called behind her.

_ January 1 _

* * *

 

Malia definitely did not miss the chatter of Hogwarts. It was loud, an overwhelming buzz of friends shouting after being away for two weeks. It was exchanging holiday presents, recanting tales from their break and wishes for a happy new year. For some couples, it meant kissing. Malia didn’t mind those people, at least they were keeping each other (mostly) quiet. 

She would have gone over to the Ravenclaw table upon seeing Lydia having returned from break until she realized it was Scott sitting next to her. Her time was over. Scott and Lydia had been reunited. She angrily chewed on her bite of Pixie Puffs, trying not to glare but not being able to resist. Until Liam, the ever annoying fifth year blocked her view. He slid onto the bench across from her, unmoved by the glower Malia sent his way. “Who pissed in your Cheeri Owls?” he asked, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a piece of bacon and bit into it. 

Malia would have kicked him directly in the shin and ruined his chance of playing in the welcome back Quidditch scrimmage but their house needed all the wins it could get. Besides, kicking Slytherin ass would make her feel ten times better since the couldn’t kick her own ass. She just pointed her spoon at him, calling him out for a later date before she shrugged. “Am I not allowed to have bad days?” 

“Seems like all of your days are bad.” 

“Then a bad existence, Liam.” She put her spoon down, shaking her head. “What do you want?”

Liam took her putting her spoon down as an excuse to help himself to a bite of her Pixie Puffs. “Just a chance to talk to my favorite seventh year.” It was a piss poor attempt at flattery and Malia saw right through it, her face remained unchanged by the attempt. “All right, fine, I need you to forge the permission slip to go to Hogsmeade. I told Professor Hale that my step-dad would sign it during winter break if I did a good enough job during the school period. But he didn’t sign it and I need to go to Hogsmeade.” 

Malia sighed. “Not here. I’ll sign it in the library later. But you’re buying me shit from Honeydukes.”

“Deal.” He took another bite of her cereal before he stood. “Oh, and by the way, you’re like, making puppy-dog eyes. The only question I have is if it’s at Lydia or Scott.”

Malia simply flipped him off, standing up herself and headed outside. It had recently snowed, students were outside enjoying their last day before classes started again. Malia walked past a couple of groups playing in the snow, making snow angels and building snowmen. She was a little annoyed with all of them for being happy when she was not but she didn’t want to be like that. She isolated herself from childhood, she was the only one to blame for having no friends. It was no one’s fault but her own. She brushed the snow off one of the benches in the Courtyard and pulled her sweater closer around her. She realized after a few minutes of being outside that she had no layers on, no hat, no gloves, nothing to protect from the cold bite of winter. 

Or the snowball that was barrelling towards her. She ducked as it fell to the ground behind her, glaring at the person who threw it. It was Isaac and he was aiming for Kira. “Sorry,” he called as he jogged over to Malia. “Scott and Lydia are joining us in a snowball fight. It’s them against me and Kira. We’re just practicing our aim.” 

“Yeah, you need it.” She wanted to be bitter and angry but she couldn’t keep the teasing tone out of her voice. 

Isaac laughed. “Watch it or I’ll hit you close range,” he threatened playfully, obviously he didn’t mean it. “Come on, help us ambush Scott and Lydia when they come out here.” 

Malia stood up, shaking her head. “Pass. I’m not a snowball type of person.” 

It had only been a day or two since she last talked to Isaac before this, she had taken to hanging out with him and Scott. Partially because she liked them but mostly because now that she had made friends with them, they wouldn’t leave her alone. She pretended she couldn’t stand it and that they exasperated her but it was no use trying to hide the grin she only wore when she was around the people she liked. Needless to say, she hadn’t really smiled much in the past but lately, she couldn’t seem to stop smiling. Especially as Scott became more of a permanent fixture in her life. 

“Malia, come on.” Isaac didn’t have the time to ask more of her before he was pelted with a snowball to the shoulder. They both turned to see Lydia standing there, dusting snow from her gloves and smiling innocently. Scott pulled his beanie down over his ears and Malia knew the signs well. That was warpaint and the snowball was their declaration of war. Malia took a step away from Isaac, giving him a conspiratorial look.

“I’m not part of this.” She held her hands up in a sign of surrender, proving she had no snowballs to use as weapons as she walked towards Scott and Lydia. Lydia looked appeased at the lack of weaponry as she got closer, but that changed as soon as Malia ducked down to the ground. She had blocked Isaac from view and given him time to gather up snow to retaliate. She got a handful of snow at the same time Lydia and Scott realized what was going on. Lydia had grabbed a bit of snow while Scott tried to rush Malia. They were fast, but Malia and Isaac were faster. Lydia got hit in the stomach by Malia’s doing and Isaac’s snowball hit Scott square in the face. The snowball wasn’t enough to stop Scott but it was enough to throw him and it gave Malia time dodge out of his way with a smirk. She was actually enjoying herself until she came face to face with Lydia and she was very clearly waiting for revenge. “Wait, wait.” She held her hands up in surrender again. “I’m unarmed and with no padding, it’s too cold.” 

Lydia hesitated. “You didn’t have to throw the snowball,” she replied. Scott held his hand up. 

“No, wait, come on. It’s not fair to throw snowballs at someone who isn’t prepared.” He shrugged his coat off, pulling his hoodie off after. “Here, Malia.” He held out the sweatshirt and Malia simply stared at the offering for a moment before she realized he was asking her to put it on. It was just a friendly gesture, trying to get Malia to stay out and play with them. Still, she felt the flush on her face and it wasn’t from the wind. Scott put his coat back on and nodded. “Lydia, game on.” 

“Wait!” Malia said again, pulling the hood up. “Kira, come here for a second.” She didn’t know Kira very well, but Malia needed her on their side. Kira came over and Lydia shooed Scott away, having understood where Malia was going with it. They got into a huddle and leaned in close. “I mostly just want to launch a surprise attack and I need the huddle to throw them off.” 

Kira rolled her eyes. “Do you even understand the concept of a team?” she asked, though she was giggling with excitement. Clearly she wasn’t opposed to the idea.

Malia shook her head, grabbing snow in her red hands and packing it into a ball. “Not even a little, I betray until the end,” she shot back with a grin. 

“You really should have gloves on, Malia.” Lydia, ever the voice of reason. She looked down at her own gloved hands. “Here, take one of mine.” 

Malia turned to look at her. “What, no, Lydia. I’m fine, I’ll stick them over the fire later to warm them up.” 

Lydia pulled off one of her gloves and offered it over. “Take it,” she demanded, taking the snowball from Malia’s hand and shoving the glove at her. Malia held her eyes for a couple of seconds before taking the glove and putting in on her right hand. 

“Happy?”

Lydia nodded. “Ecstatic.” She waited for Malia and Kira to pick up a snowball each before she nodded. “Break.” 

There was no hesitation. Once they were out of the huddle, they unleashed the snowballs at Scott and Isaac. They clearly hadn’t been expecting to be pelted with snowballs. 

The girls had the upperhand until Scott had snuck up behind Lydia and pulled her down into the snow with him. That took out their sniper, as Lydia had the most accurate aim. That left Malia, who threw the hardest out of them all and Kira, who had the fastest reload time, which was really only because of the fact that she had gloves on both hands and was slightly more braced against the cold than either Lydia or Malia had been. 

Isaac was outnumbered, surely he knew that and he held up both hands, dropping the snowball that had been in hand. At least until Scott and Lydia surprised them from the ground and the three of them bombarded Malia and Lydia with snowballs. After a couple a seconds of being pelted with snowballs, Kira waved a handful of snow as a symbolic white flag. “We surrender, we surrender!” 

“Cease fire!” Lydia called out with a laugh, moving over to them and checking over to make sure they were okay. “You guys okay?”

Malia narrowed her eyes at Lydia. “I’m unnecessarily cold,” she muttered, arms crossed over her chest as if she hadn’t initiated the snowball fight by throwing the first snowball at Lydia. 

“You’ll be fine.” Lydia used the hand that wasn’t glove to brush snow out of Malia’s hair. It was such a tender action that Malia had to look away, eyes falling to her feet before she took a step back. 

Things were silent for a moment, if not slightly tense. Malia was vaguely aware of Kira looking at Scott from the corner of her eye, waiting to see his reaction but as far as Malia could tell, he didn’t give a visible one. Isaac broke the silence first. “So … you guys ready to go inside?”

“I am,” Malia said, taking off the glove and handing it over to Lydia. “Scott, I’ll give you your sweatshirt back tonight at dinner.”

Scott shrugged it off dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, keep it.”

“Thanks. For the sweatshirt,” she turned to the rest of them, “And for the game.” She had spent her time pretending to belong to a group of friends but her time was over and she had to play normal again. Like she wouldn’t miss having a niche in which she fit perfectly. “I’ll see you guys around.” Don’t let them see you rejected. She waved a little with the hand that was almost entirely blue and thought about thrusting it into the fire. It served a dual purpose, she realized as she went inside as quickly as possible, cheeks burning from the sense of rejection. It would not only warm her hand but serve as punishment for getting attached. 

She was so wrapped up on her head that she didn’t realize that Lydia had been calling her name as she got close, following her into the castle. She felt Lydia’s hand wrap around her numb and stinging hand, bringing it to her lips and kissing the back. “You okay?”

Malia was taken aback by the action but she didn’t jerk her hand away. “Yeah, I’m fine.” It was a lie and Lydia saw right through it. She didn’t say anything, however, because Scott came jogging up behind them. Lydia didn’t drop their hands or let go of Malia’s. 

“Hey,” Scott said, tugging off a glove and running a hand through his hair. “You left really fast, are you all right?” 

Malia rolled her eyes. “Yes, you guys, I promise, I’m fine.” Part of her wondered why Scott was so okay with the fact that she and Lydia had just had a moment or that they were holding hands. 

“If that’s the case, then you’ll have no problem discussing a couple of things I’ve been thinking on,” Lydia began nonchalantly, rubbing Malia’s hand between her own and helping massage the feeling back into it. Malia raised an eyebrow in response and Lydia took that as her opportunity to continue. “Scott told me that you guys were hanging out a lot during break.” Oh god. She knew where this was going. Lydia was going to get angry and tell Malia to stay away from them. “I’m glad to hear that.” Oh  _ fuck _ she was …

She was glad to hear that? Malia’s eyes widened and she listened more intently. “What?” 

“We used to hook up. And when I told Scott about it, he asked me if I loved you.” Malia’s eyes flicked to Scott for confirmation before looking back to Lydia. “I said maybe someday I could.” 

Malia pulled her hand from Lydia’s. “So what? Why are you telling me this?”

Lydia smiled. “Do you think you could maybe love me some day too?”

_ Yes.  _ “Why? If I say yes, what happens from there? Are you going to dump Scott and date me instead? We hooked up for two years in secret, did you ever consider why it was a secret?” 

“It was a secret because I wasn’t ready. It was because I wanted to keep us a secret that we did. But I’m ready now.”

“No. No, there is no  _ us _ , Lydia. There is you and me because us would imply that we’re dating when you were just a fuck.” She didn’t like the way the words sounded, especially compared with the fact that they were her words. She wanted to scream and shout but she still cared about Lydia and hurting her seemed impossible. “I was ready for there to be an  _ us _ when we were fifteen.  I’m done sticking around.”

Lydia was quiet, biting her lower lip. “So you’ve moved on?”

“I have.”  _ No. Not even a little.  _

“So if I asked you to date me now, you wouldn’t?”

“No.”

Scott spoke up, rubbing the back of his head. “What if I asked?” 

“Stop.” Malia held a hand up, taking a step back and shaking her head. “This is too much at once, I can’t do this. Not today and certainly not sober.” She wiped her eyes and tried to sort out her head. “I’ll … I’ll see you guys later.” She took off down the hall, almost out of earshot when she heard, 

“Malia, will you date us?!” It was both Scott and Lydia at the same time and it was enough to make Malia quickly turn around and walk back over.

“What?” she asked sharply, looking between the couple in front of them. 

“Look,” Scott began, “We all know you still have feelings for Lydia and ever since November, we’ve been hanging out more and I … I really enjoy spending time you. And the other week, when I walked you back to your common room, I really wanted to kiss you.” 

“So?” This was going to go south at some point, she knew. Whether it was because they weren’t compatible or because Scott and Lydia realized that they were better off without her, she wasn’t going to go down with this ship when it hit the iceberg. 

“Did you want to kiss him too?” 

_ Say no. Just say no, lie, it’s easy, you’ve been doing it your whole life. Just lie.  _ “Yes.”  _ Well that was the exact opposite of what you wanted to tell them.  _

Lydia reached out and took her hand again, only this time she just held it while Scott took her free hand. “So give this a try? Please?” Scott offered Malia his other hand and she look between them, thoughts racing while she thought this over. 

She put her hand in Scott’s and nodded. “Okay. We’ll try this. Us.” 

Lydia and Scott leaned in to kiss either cheek, smiling brightly. “What do you say we go warm up in the library?” Lydia asked, dropping their hands so she could wind an arm around Scott’s waist. Scott draped an arm over Lydia’s shoulder, still holding Malia’s hand.

Malia raised an eyebrow. “That sounded vaguely dirty, Lydia. We’re not fucking in the library.” 

Well, not tonight, anyway.

_ February 14 _

* * *

 

Valentine’s Day. Lydia would be lying if she said she didn’t love Valentine’s Day. It hadn’t been her favorite in the past, especially during the rushed sex she and Malia had in broom cupboards the past two years but she was in a much better mood this year. She had finally come to terms with her sexuality, which is what kept her relationship with Malia in the dark. But they had been working around that, having been dating for a month and two weeks. She and Scott had been dating for five months and that was going well. Honestly, if Lydia had been a possessive person, she would have been worried about the fact that her boyfriend had gotten a crush on someone else, but she wasn’t. Not when she still had a thing for Malia and it was clear after her drunken outburst in October that her feelings were reciprocated. 

Speaking of Hogsmeade, she had gotten presents for both her boyfriend and girlfriend the last time they were there. She had convinced Liam and Mason to do something stupid and had Scott attend to them while convincing Malia to tag along so she could escape to go shopping. Sure, Liam had ended up with only one eyebrow while Mason lost them house points, but Lydia wasn’t too worried about that. She would earn them back soon enough. Plus, it had worked. She got the chance to sneak away and buy the presents she had been thinking of.

Granted, she had only had a little bit of time to look for gifts before deciding on what to get them, the shops had only put out their assortment of Valentine’s gifts a week prior and she hadn’t had the time to shop around before she settled on something from Honeydukes. She didn’t know if she was getting anything from Scott and she doubted Malia would even think to buy her a present, so she would go with something small. 

After looking around in Honeydukes, she settled on cute stuffed animals. Knowing that a good part of their foot traffic came from Hogwarts students, Honeydukes had stuffed animals in the form of the Hogwarts houses holding candies. The stuffed animals made cute versions of their sounds. Lydia found a lion plush holding a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, for Malia, because she had a crazy tendency to eat every candy you put in front of her, even Bertie Bott’s and she would finish the box without so much as blinking. She found Scott a badger holding a chocolate frog. Scott collected the cards and it was always fun to watch him play with the frog before he ate it. 

That sounded really bad, given that Scott was most likely going to be a veterinarian after graduation, but no matter, she knew them well. She herself would probably end up being a fashion designer or getting an apprenticeship at Madam Malkin’s after graduation. Malia, though, Malia’s future after graduation was a tricky one. Lydia was one who liked to have her future planned out and that involved planning out the futures of those she wanted to spend her time with. But Malia’s was one that she couldn’t quite figure out and that worried her. This was their final year at Hogwarts and graduation was fast approaching and after the wizard and Muggle community expected them to contribute to society and start pulling their weight. If it freaked out Lydia to not know what her girlfriend would be doing after graduation, she could only imagine how Malia must feel about it. Now if only Malia was open about her thoughts and feelings. She was getting better, but it was still hard to get her to talk about the things that actually mattered.

Now, with the presents in hand, she headed down to the library. It was more or less their spot. She and Scott had met up frequently at the library in the beginning of their relationship and if she and Malia were to meet up in their spot, it would be entirely too crowded with Scott in that tiny closet. When she got to the library, Scott and Malia were already sitting down on a couch, Malia’s head on Scott’s shoulder while he read. She looked content to just sit in the silence, which meant Lydia had to break it. “Happy Valentine’s Day!” she said as she went over to them, gift bags in hand. The gift bags were also color coordinated. Malia’s was red with a gold bow and Scott’s was yellow with black ribbon. Malia sat up and yawned, making room for Lydia to sit between them while Scott eyed the gift bags. 

“Lydia, come on, neither of us got you anything,” Malia said, sharing a look with Scott, who shrugged in response. “You shouldn’t have.”

With a shrug, Lydia dropped the bags into their laps. “It’s nothing special, I just got them for you because I wanted to.” She sat down between them, clapping her hands together. “Open them!” 

Malia opened hers first. “Aww, Lydia, it’s a little lion, I love it. Ooh, Bertie Bott’s.” 

“A badger with a chocolate frog? Lyds, it’s adorable.” He kissed Lydia lightly, her hand cupping his jaw before it broke and he opened up the frog. 

Malia pressed the lion’s paw, listening to the soft roar it made. “My roommates are so going to hate me,” she said, letting Lydia kiss her. It was a little more heated than her kiss with Scott had been but it didn’t go much further after hearing, 

“Oh, cool, I got Talia Hale. She’s one of the only ones I didn’t have.” Scott reached down to put the card in his bag and draped an arm over the back of the couch. Lydia leaned her head against Scott’s shoulder and took Malia’s hand. While Malia dug into her box of jelly beans, Scott went back to reading and Lydia watched Malia as she pulled a pale brown colored bean from the box and sniffed it. 

“Guys, I think this is gonna be an earthworm.” She crinkled her nose as she examined it. 

Without looking up from his book, Scott replied, “Then don’t eat it.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, McCall.” She promptly popped the jelly bean in her mouth and chewed it before she groaned in disgust. “Yep, earthworm.” She didn’t spit it out and the process repeated all over with the next bean, curry flavored.

Lydia sighed, squeezing Malia’s hand and closing her eyes. “Hey, guys? Where do you think we’re gonna be in the next few months?” 

Scott looked down at Lydia, eyebrows raised. “Like, after graduation?” Lydia nodded. “I don’t know, I was thinking about continuing my job at the clinic and taking over some day? Go to veterinary school. What about you?” 

“Maybe work under Madam Malkin for awhile. She’s made some great clothes, I could probably learn a lot from her.” She shrugged, peeking one eye open to look over at Malia, who didn’t offer up a possible future for herself. She squeeze Malia’s hand but still got no response. 

Scott looked over at her, picking through the jelly beans until she found one she had a good feeling about. “Lia?” 

“Hmm?”

“Any plans for the future?”

Malia turned and gave them a smile. “Absolutely none. Want one?” She offered the box open to them. 

Lydia sat up. “Malia, we graduate in four months, you can’t just leave here blind?” 

Malia shrugged. “Why not? Kids from my hometown graduate high school all the time without a plan. What makes us so different? We go to a magical boarding school? We’re part of a magical community with more careers that makes it even harder for us to narrow down one specific thing we want to do? It’s great that you guys know what you want to do with your lives, but not everyone has that same need to know, you know?” With that, she returned to the candy.

Lydia had wanted to know what was going on inside her head.

_ March 19 _

* * *

 

Lydia completely expected it when she felt hands cover her eyes at breakfast. “Happy birthday!” the people behind her chorused, and yes, she was eighteen. She smiled, turning around and seeing both Scott and Malia behind her. She had spent extra time on her hair and makeup before she left Ravenclaw tower and the gems in her braid may as well have been a tiara. Lydia has always loved her birthday and now she got to celebrate it with the two people she cared about the most. 

“Ahh, thank you.” She stood up, hugging both of them and kissing their cheeks. Their fellow students had long since gotten used to the idea of the three of them dating each other but they were still watching, if only because they were cute and the only interesting thing going on at breakfast. “I want spend some time with you guys tonight, if you’re interested.” They spent time together nearly every night, in the library mainly, but this was different. They never asked each other if they wanted to hang out, they sort of just migrated to the library and expected to see each other there. “Meet me at at the prefect’s bathroom at eleven,” she whispered. This was for their ears only.

She knew they would understand, even if Scott shifted a little uncomfortably, he clearly picked up on the hint. Judging by the way Malia bit her lip and raised her eyebrows. “I’ll be there,” Malia replied, taking Lydia’s hand after she pulled away and squeezing it. 

Lydia smiled, squeezing Malia’s hand before turning to their boyfriend. “Scott?” 

“I … I don’t think I can make it,” Scott replied. “I’m really sorry, we can do something before that tonight.” He sounded more uncomfortable than regretful. “I should go eat, I’ll see you later.” He kissed Lydia lightly. “Happy birthday again, Lyds.” He went and sat down at the Hufflepuff table, leaving Lydia and Malia standing there together. 

“What was that about?” Malia asked, tilting her head to the side. 

Lydia tapped her foot on the ground. “I have absolutely no idea.” 

Later on that day, Lydia and Malia met up with Scott. He was outside during their free period, skipping rocks across the Great Lake. Malia sped off to join him, picking up a rock and pitching it as far as she could. It landed with a plunk into the water and she kissed Scott lightly. Lydia sat down on the grass next to them. “So, what do you have going on tonight that you can’t join us?” She didn’t sound accusatory, just curious, but Scott didn’t look like he wanted to answer. 

“Come on, we won’t be angry. We just want to make sure you’re all right,” Malia added, sitting down.

Scott followed suit, sitting between his girlfriends and shrugging. “I’m not really interested in sex. I mean, you guys can have at it, don’t hold back because of me, but I just don’t feel that sexual drive. That okay?”

Lydia smiled. “Of course it is. You can’t help how you feel, Scott.” She looked past him at Malia, who lifted a shoulder in response. 

“If you’re ace, that’s fine with me. I’m not gonna be mad because you’re not interested in sex.” 

Scott smiled, the tension leaving his shoulders. “You guys are the best.”

“We know,” they said. Apparently, neither had been expecting the other to say that and reached over Scott to high five, pointing at each other because great minds think alike. 

That night, Malia and Lydia enjoyed each other’s company in the prefect’s bathroom. It was a new experience for the both of them and they both agreed after a night of touches searing skin that it was definitely not the last time they ended up in the bathroom together.

_ April 29 _

* * *

 

“Can you believe it?” Lydia asked, sitting in the stands in front of the Quidditch pitch. Malia was sitting next to her and they watched as the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors played each other in the game. Lydia was sitting with the Gryffindors for this match but they were both cheering for Scott. Malia kind of hoped her house would win, but she didn’t necessarily care for Quidditch, she was just there for Scott. He, with Kira and Isaac, were Chasers for the team. 

Malia turned her attention away from the game, having been cheering along with the crowd. “Believe what?”

Lydia scooted closer, her hand on Malia’s knee. “We’re one day away from having two months left until we graduate.” 

Malia shrugged. “I still don’t see it as a big deal. We graduate, so what?” 

Lydia patted her knee. “I promise, I’m not trying to get a rise out of you. I’m just kind of in shock by it all. We’re almost Hogwarts alumni.” She looked up as she heard, 

“Another ten points for Hufflepuff! That makes the score 90-70, favor of Gryffindor!” Scott was hovering near the goal on his broomstick, one he had saved up money and purchased from Spintwitches. It wasn’t the best model on the line but he had earned the money himself and they were both very proud of him for doing so. 

“Go Hufflepuff!” Malia shouted at the same time Lydia called out,

“Yeah, Scott!” Both of their cheers got them some dirty looks from the Gryffindor crowd and Liam, a Chaser for the Gryffindor team, flew to the edge of the pitch to give Malia a look. She shrugged in response. Lydia laughed. “Some house pride you have.” 

Malia pretended to weigh this out on her hands. “My house that I’m with for the next two months or the boyfriend I’ll hopefully be with for longer than two months.” 

Lydia squeezed her knee. “I’m kidding, Lia.” 

“I know.” They kissed lightly, only breaking apart when it was announced that, 

“Hufflepuff has caught the Snitch! That makes the score 220-90! Hufflepuff wins!” 

The players on both teams touched down onto the pitch and the Hufflepuffs, along with Lydia and Malia, rushed the field. Some of the Gryffindors glared at Malia, given that she was even sporting Hufflepuff colors in the form of one of Scott’s sweatshirts, another one that he wouldn’t be getting back. All of the ones she had stolen from Scott eventually were stolen by Lydia. Between the two of them, they had just about all of Scott’s sweatshirts and Scott had no sweatshirts. It was basic math. _ If you have two girlfriends and six hoodies, how many hoodies can each of you have _ ? The answer was  _ you get none, because you girlfriends will steal absolutely all of your clothes with no remorse whatsoever.  _

Scott grinned when he saw them both coming towards him, patting Isaac on the shoulder before he met them halfway. “Hey!” he said brightly, overwhelmingly happy. 

“Hey!” Malia replied, while Lydia went straight for the kiss. “That was such an awesome game, Scott, we were rooting for you the whole time.” 

With the seven Gryffindors still within earshot on the pitch, Scott laughed, kissing Malia after the kiss with Lydia broke. “Thanks for cheering me on. I know it was against your own house, it couldn’t have been an easy choice.

Malia shrugged. “I don’t particularly like many of them anyway - ow, fuck!” The bottom of a broomstick thwacked her on the side of the head and she turned to look her assailant. “Fuck you, Liam.”

Liam rolled his eyes as he went off the pitch, leaving Malia rubbing the side of her head with a pout before Scott kissed where she had been hit. Lydia smiled, resting a hand on his chest. “You played amazingly, babe, we’re so proud of you.” 

“Thanks.” 

It was the moments like this that Scott could see them all ending up together.

_ May 22 _

* * *

 

Lydia knew she would earn an O.W.L. in all of her subjects during her fifth year. It brought her up to twelve O.W.L.s in total and she would go on to take the N.E.W.T.s for each subject in her seventh year. It meant that the past two weeks had been nothing but a long whirlwind of standardized testing. One for each subject. She had relished the weekends she spent with Malia and Scott, but this was cause for celebration. She was one of the few people to achieve all O.W.L.s and decide to take her N.E.W.T.s for each class and she had just walked out of her last examination: Muggle Studies. She knew she had aced it, it was only natural that she did. 

Scott and Malia were waiting for her on a bench outside of the Great Hall and when she walked out, it was with a victorious scream of, “I’m done!” She hugged Malia, dropping her head against her girlfriend’s shoulder before Scott hugged her from behind, squeezing Lydia between them. 

“We’re so proud of you, Lyds,” Scott replied, kissing the back of her head. 

Malia patted her hip and said, “No one told you to take all twelve exams.” Scott had only taken one but Malia hadn’t done well enough on the O.W.L.s to take the N.E.W.T.s.

“I have to otherwise none of them count,” Lydia whined, looking up long enough to pout at Malia for sympathy. 

“Well that’s just not true.” 

Lydia pulled away from the hug and turned to hide her face in Scott’s chest. “Scott, you’ll be nice and comfort me, right?” 

Scott laughed, rubbing her back. “I’m with Malia on this one, you could have taken just the ones that interest you but because I know you, I know you’re trying to prove to everyone just how smart you actually are.” She tilted her head up, resting her chin against his chest and Scott kissed her forehead. “Come on, let’s go for a walk.” 

Lydia stepped back after Malia did, taking Scott’s hand and looking to Malia. Malia, however, had this dumbstruck look across her face. “Mal? You okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, fine.” She brushed it off too casually and didn’t give an explanation like she normally did, to validate her point that she was okay.

After five months together, Scott saw right through that bullshit façade. “No, you’re not. What’s wrong?” 

Malia bit her lip, trying to keep her breathing straight. “Remember around Christmas, when we talked about the future and how it was a panic attack waiting to happen?” Lydia looked between them, neither of them had filled her in on what went down during the two weeks she was away but Scott nodded. “Yeah, it’s happening.” 

Lydia led Malia back over to the bench, helping her sit down and rubbing her back soothingly. She knew she had a lot of options for after graduation but maybe Malia felt like she didn’t. “Hey, I know I act like I know what I’m going to do after we get out of here, but I’m not positive. No one is, that’s why everyone gets scared to leave Hogwarts.”

Scott sat down on Malia’s other side, taking her hand and stroking his thumb across the back. “We’re all in a rush but when you slow down and think about it, it’s scary. I don’t have anything certain planned. I just know that I want you two to be in my life when I do.” 

That pulled Lydia’s attention. “You do?” They had never said it aloud, it was always just something they had assumed would happen, the three of them lasting. 

“Of course. I love you both.” 

And he had Malia’s attention, pulling her away from the panic attack. “Wait, you love us?” 

Scott nodded, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “Yeah.” He said it like he wouldn’t be offended if they didn’t even say it back. 

“Scott … I love you too.” Lydia reached over Malia and rested a hand on his knee, sounding genuinely touched by his confession. 

Malia licked her lips, fighting down the panic attack long enough to say, “You’re okay, I guess.” She smiled teasingly, leaning up to peck Scott’s cheek. “I love you too. And I love you, Lydia.” 

“I have loved you since we were sixteen.” Lydia kissed her cheek lightly. 

They sat like that until Malia’s panic attack passed. They went for their walk around the grounds, all connected in some way or another. Scott gave Lydia a piggy-back ride as Malia ran ahead, challenging Scott to see if he could keep up with another person’s body weight on him. 

They were obviously, disgustingly in love.

_ June 30 _

* * *

 

For the whole of the past few months, graduation had just been a distant, if not somewhat terrifying, far off notion for the seventh years. The anticipated day had finally come. Their commencement ceremony had commenced and the seventh years were seen out to the boats to the Great Lake. Lydia was already crying for a little bit and Madam McCall, Scott’s mom, was crying as well, having seen her son graduate from school. It was four to a boat, but no one wanted to be the odd man out in the boat with Scott, Malia and Lydia so they sat together, lantern swinging from the head of the boat as they sailed across the lake. 

“Oh, fuck, I think I’m going to cry,” Malia said, turning back to watch as the castle slowly shrank into the distance. 

Lydia nodded. “Please, I can’t be the only one crying.” 

“You’re not. At least, not internally.” Scott was trying to hold it in for his girls, if both of them were crying, someone needed to be there to hold them and help get them through it. Malia scooted closer into his side, hiding her face in his shirt and he felt his sleeve grow damp from her tears. Lydia was crying into a tissue. “You guys. This is it, what are we going to do with our lives now?” 

Malia shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m okay with wherever we end up, as long as we’re together.”

In an effort to lighten the mood, Scott teased, “Aww, Lia. You’re sentimental.”

“Shut up, Scott,” she replied through a wet laugh. 

Lydia wiped her eyes again, sniffling and breathing out shakily. She was okay, she had to be okay. This was supposed to be a happy, or maybe even melancholy day. She was saying goodbye to Hogwarts. The place she found out who she was. The place where she found the people she loved and where they had decided to be with her and love her back. “Lumos.” She raised her wand in tribute to the school she had spent the last seven years of her life. Scott and Malia followed suit and soon, the lake was lit up with the wands of the students paying homage to their school. The mere sight of it made Scott’s resolve not cry a little weaker. 

“We’re gonna be okay, right?” Lydia asked softly, reaching over to take Scott’s hand, with Malia’s hand in the crook of his arm. “The three of us.”

Scott smiled. “I have a feeling we’re going to be fine.” 


End file.
